Egypt VAT is a high-intent compliance topic because one simple headline rate hides several operating rules. A business may need the standard 14% rate, a 5% machinery or equipment rule, a zero-rated export treatment, a table-tax item, a monthly return, an e-invoice workflow, an e-receipt workflow, or a reverse-charge check for imported services. Treating all of those as one generic VAT percentage is how finance teams end up with stale invoices, weak input-tax support, and missing platform obligations.
This guide focuses on the current public source trail, not on a shortcut rate table. Use the Egypt VAT calculator for arithmetic and the pan-African VAT calculator when you are comparing Egypt with another market. Use this article to decide which ETA source, invoice evidence, buyer status, or digital-services rule needs to be checked before quoting, filing, or accepting a supplier invoice.
Verification date: July 6, 2026. Primary sources checked include the Egyptian Tax Authority English translation of VAT Law No. 67 of 2016, ETA's digital services and remote services guidance, ETA's e-invoice guide page, ETA's e-commerce platform guide page, and ETA's VAT refund page for departing foreign visitors. Secondary tax summaries were used only as cross-checks where they aligned with ETA source material.
Egypt VAT In One View
| Topic | Current source-backed position | Operational control |
|---|---|---|
| Standard VAT rate | 14% from fiscal year 2017/2018 under ETA's translated VAT Law | Use 14% for ordinary taxable supplies unless a special rule applies. |
| Machinery and equipment | 5% can apply to machines and equipment used in manufacturing goods or providing services, excluding buses and passenger cars | Do not apply 5% without classifying the asset and use case. |
| Registration threshold | EGP 500,000 in total taxable and exempt sales during the preceding 12 months | Track rolling 12-month sales and register within 30 days after reaching the threshold. |
| Tax period | ETA's law defines the tax period as a calendar month for monthly VAT returns | Close sales, input tax and invoice evidence monthly. |
| Non-resident digital services | ETA guidance applies VAT rules to digital and remote services provided to customers in Egypt | Separate B2B reverse-charge supplies from B2C supplies and EDP sales. |
| E-invoicing | ETA maintains guide pages for electronic invoice onboarding, registration, integration, signatures, codes and FAQs | Keep invoice data in the format the ETA system expects, not only in PDF form. |
| Tourist refunds | ETA allows refunds for eligible departing visitors when purchase and stay conditions are met | Issue valid e-receipts and capture passport data where the refund scheme applies. |
The table is deliberately operational. Egypt VAT work is not only about adding 14% to a price. It is about proving whether the supplier is registered, whether the buyer is a VAT registrant, whether a non-resident platform has an Egypt obligation, whether the invoice is electronic, and whether input tax can be supported later.
Registration Threshold And Monthly Returns
ETA's translated VAT Law says every natural or juridical person selling taxable goods or providing taxable services must apply for registration when total sales of taxable and exempt goods and services during the preceding 12 months reach or exceed EGP 500,000. The same article says the application should be filed within 30 days from the date total sales reached the registration threshold. Importers of taxable commodities or services for trading, exporters, and distribution agents are treated separately and may have registration duties regardless of transaction volume.
That rolling 12-month wording is important. A business should not wait for a calendar year to close before checking VAT status. A strong control file tracks monthly sales, exempt sales, taxable sales, imported services, customer type, and any special table-tax items. If the threshold is reached in the middle of a fiscal year, the finance team should already know what data will go into the ETA registration process.
ETA's law also defines the VAT tax period as a calendar month for which registrants submit monthly tax returns. This means VAT controls need to happen during the month, not once a year. Sales invoices, credit notes, imported services, input-tax invoices, customs documents and electronic invoice confirmations should be reconciled before the return is prepared. A monthly close that only checks bank receipts can miss output tax, input tax restrictions, or e-invoice mismatches.
Rates, Zero-Rating And Table Tax
The standard rate is the easiest line to confirm. ETA's translated VAT Law says the standard VAT rate on goods and services became 14% from the beginning of fiscal year 2017/2018. The same article says machines and equipment used in manufacturing goods or providing services are subject to 5%, except for buses and passenger cars. It also says qualifying exports of goods and services can be zero-rated under the terms and conditions in the Executive Regulations.
For ordinary calculations, the formulas are simple:
| Calculation | Formula | EGP 10,000 example |
|---|---|---|
| Add 14% VAT | Net price x 1.14 | EGP 10,000 becomes EGP 11,400 |
| VAT amount | Net price x 14% | EGP 1,400 |
| Remove VAT from gross | Gross price / 1.14 | EGP 11,400 gives EGP 10,000 net |
| Extract VAT from gross | Gross price - net price | EGP 1,400 |
Do not let the arithmetic hide classification risk. Egypt also has table-tax items and special VAT treatments. Fuel, tobacco, certain entertainment or hospitality items, production-line machinery, exports, imported services and free-zone movements can require more than a single calculator input. Use a VAT calculator for the number, then check ETA source material for the treatment behind the number.
Digital Services And Remote Suppliers
ETA's digital-services guidance is one of the most important source checks for 2026 operators. ETA says it published VAT guidelines for digital services and other remote services provided by non-residents, effective from June 22, 2023. The guidance covers vendors providing services to customers in Egypt through websites, social media stores, applications and electronic distribution platforms.
Remote services are described by ETA as services where there is no necessary connection between the physical location of the recipient and the place of physical performance. ETA's examples include supplies of digital content, online games, applications, software, website design, publishing services, legal services, accounting services and consultancy services. A SaaS product, creator subscription, digital course, app, hosted design tool, online magazine or platform service can therefore have an Egypt VAT question even when the supplier is outside Egypt.
The buyer type changes the workflow. ETA says that for B2B supplies to a registered taxpayer, the resident taxpayer accounts for VAT using the reverse charge scheme, with no obligation for the non-resident supplier to charge and remit VAT. For B2C supplies, the obligation depends on whether the service is supplied through the vendor's own portal or application, or through an electronic distribution platform. In practice, the contract, customer account data, tax registration status and platform role all matter.
The safest operating rule is to classify every remote-service sale by customer location, customer VAT registration status, supply type and platform role. If a marketplace or app store sits between the creator or SaaS supplier and the customer, do not assume the supplier and the platform have the same VAT obligation. Read the ETA digital-services guidance and keep the evidence behind the treatment.
E-Invoices, E-Receipts And Records
Egypt's invoice environment is increasingly system-led. ETA maintains a public guide page for the electronic invoice system, including taxpayer introductory material, readiness guides for registration, integration, electronic signatures, codes and FAQs. The public page is a sign that invoice compliance is not only a document design question. It is also an onboarding, integration and data-quality question.
For businesses already inside e-invoicing, a valid invoice should not live only as a PDF attached to an email. Product codes, seller data, buyer data, VAT amounts, tax categories, electronic signature steps and platform acknowledgements can be part of the audit trail. The same logic applies to the electronic receipt system for consumer-facing sales. A retail business or tourism seller may need to think about e-receipts as part of VAT evidence and customer refund rights.
ETA's law requires books, records and documents to be retained in relevant situations, and the electronic systems make the data trail more visible. A practical VAT file should therefore include the original transaction, ETA electronic invoice or receipt status, payment record, customer type, credit-note trail and return mapping. If the invoice was rejected, cancelled or corrected, keep the reason and the replacement reference.
Use AfroTools' invoice generator for draft document structure, but do not treat a locally generated invoice as official ETA submission proof. The official compliance step sits with the ETA e-invoice or e-receipt system where the business is required to use it.
Tourist VAT Refund Rules
ETA's VAT refund page gives a narrow but useful operational example of how invoice evidence matters. Departing foreign visitors can refund VAT on purchases where their stay does not exceed three months, the amount of each purchase invoice is not less than EGP 1,500, and the purchases accompany the visitor abroad. ETA also says the refund can be transferred in foreign currency to the visitor's own foreign bank card.
The page tells visitors to verify the presence of VAT Refund signboards at the store, receive an e-receipt containing the passport number, keep goods in good purchase status, appear at the VAT refund office before departure, show the goods and passport, and hold a valid bank card for the refund transfer. For shops serving tourists, that means the e-receipt is not cosmetic. It is part of the customer's refund workflow.
A Practical Egypt VAT Workflow
- Classify the supply. Decide whether it is a local taxable supply, exempt supply, export, table-tax item, imported service, remote digital service, or tourist refund sale.
- Check registration status monthly. Track rolling 12-month sales against the EGP 500,000 threshold and do not wait for year-end.
- Confirm the buyer type. For remote services, separate registered taxpayers from non-registered consumers and identify whether an electronic distribution platform is involved.
- Run the number. Use the Egypt VAT calculator for 14% and gross-to-net checks, then document any 5%, zero-rated or special treatment.
- Control invoice evidence. Keep ETA e-invoice, e-receipt, credit-note, code, signature and acknowledgement data with the transaction pack.
- Reconcile before filing. Match output tax, input tax, imported services, customs documents and platform reports before the monthly return is submitted.
- Remove stale claims. Any guide that treats Egypt VAT as only a simple retail percentage is missing digital services, reverse charge, e-invoice and e-receipt risk.
Need the Egypt VAT math?
Add VAT, remove VAT from a gross price, and compare invoice totals before you prepare the official ETA filing evidence.
Open Egypt VAT Calculator →Sources Reviewed
The facts in this guide were checked on July 6, 2026 against the following sources:
- Egyptian Tax Authority English translation of VAT Law No. 67 of 2016
- ETA guidance announcement for VAT on digital services and other remote services
- ETA digital services and remote services page
- ETA guides for dealing with the electronic invoice system
- ETA e-commerce platform guide page
- ETA VAT refund procedures for departing foreign visitors
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries Egypt VAT page, used as a secondary cross-check only
Frequently Asked Questions
ETA's translated VAT Law says the standard VAT rate became 14% from fiscal year 2017/2018. Check special rules before applying it to machinery, exports, table-tax items or exempt supplies.
ETA's translated VAT Law states an EGP 500,000 threshold based on total taxable and exempt sales during the preceding 12 months, with registration due within 30 days after reaching the threshold.
Yes. ETA guidance covers non-resident vendors supplying digital and remote services to customers in Egypt. The workflow depends on whether the customer is a registered taxpayer, a non-registered consumer, or a sale through an electronic distribution platform.
Not where the ETA e-invoice or e-receipt system applies. Keep the electronic invoice or receipt status, codes, buyer data, signature or integration evidence and any correction trail with the transaction record.
ETA says eligible departing foreign visitors can refund VAT when the stay does not exceed three months, each purchase invoice is at least EGP 1,500, and the goods accompany the visitor abroad.